A recent small colour survey I conducted turned up some interesting results on colour attitudes and preferences.

Blue and red featured as commonly chosen favourite colours. Interestingly both are of course two ‘primary’ colours with different effects. Red relates to the physical self and as I spoke about in the previous blog article, relates to qualities of strength, stamina, courage etc. Whereas blue is the colour of the mind – our intellect and its qualities relate to thought, logic and trust. Colour psychology might interpret these two colour choices as representing two different personality types – one that is an active ‘doer’ (red) and one that is a planner and ‘thinker’ (blue).

Although purple was more often cited as a least favourite colour, yellow was the colour that was most mentioned as the colour people feel they ‘don’t suit’ and I have found this quite a common attitude among clients I have worked with. Here in the UK of course we don’t benefit from too much of the sunshine stuff and I think in some way that fact is mirrored perhaps by the lingering attitude of ‘GBR’ – Great British Reticence? Our inherent inhibited traits mean we’re not usually given to drawing attention to ourselves and displays of overt behaviour and there’s no doubt about it – yellow is the sunny, confident, ‘here I am’ ego colour!

Now although blue and red appear to be our more favoured colours, curiously it still seems that black is most highly favoured as a colour in which to dress ourselves. Around 57% of participants in the survey feel that it is ‘easy to wear’ colour and 43% claim to have at least up to 5 items of black clothing/accessories in their wardrobe! But why when we have so much other choice of colour available? Popular opinion holds the view that black can be seen as glamorous, sophisticated, efficient and serious, maybe ‘cool’ even. What I’m interested to know is this, is it because fashion/trends perpetuate the perceived benefits and allure of black? Or are we less confident about experimenting with other colours that suit us?

Previous blog articles you might be interested in……

Red Alert!

Purple Power

The message behind black

Did anyone catch last weeks ‘presidential’ TV debate? If not live then you almost certainly can’t have failed to hear about it in the rest of the media!

One of the points that I often try to make about colour is that it is – to quote Angela Wright, ‘the universal non verbal language’. We use colour to communicate. Everyday we make choices (mostly subconsciously) about what colours to wear that whether we realise it or not, express how we feel.

Each leader David, Gordon and Nick all wore ties in their respective party colour of course, and one of the things that struck me as interesting when reading about last weeks debate was that each of the party leaders also appeared to exhibit qualities in their behaviour which reflected their party colour!

Perhaps previously considered the underdog, the overall impression was that Nick Clegg’s polished performance had ‘come out on top’ with a confident address to the viewers. A more noticeable colour, the positive aspects of the liberal party colour yellow express qualities of confidence, optimism and positivity.

Contrast this delivery with the overriding opinion of Gordon Brown’s performance in the Labour ‘red corner’ as being ‘aggressive and attacking, repeatedly interrupting and becoming increasingly frustrated’. These ‘behaviours’ are most synonymous with the negative traits of the colour red whilst David Cameron in the ‘blue corner’ was described as ‘statesmanlike, holding his nerve under a barrage from the Prime Minister’. Cool, calm and collected blue can appear authorative if a little predictable and safe.

Purple Power – Gordon Brown and team tapping in to the potential of purple

Pantone swatches

Pantone have launched their Fashion colour report for autumn 2010.  Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute® describes the palette as an“innovative take on fundamental basics, as well as transporting, lively colours that conjure images of travel and adventure, whether real or aspirational.”

Several leading American designers describe their inspiration for the selected colours that we’ll be seeing in fashion retail later in the year.  I thought I would take a look at the colour chips described and offer my own thoughts on how I think these colours work together.

Oyster Gray and Rose Dust have the ethereal qualities of the attractive and harmonious cool, muted summer palette. The addition of Purple Orchid brings the palette to life adding excitement and depth. These colours are indeed ‘aspirational’ alluding to quality, elegance and timelessness. Soft and light like a summery breeze they are suited to flowing, diaphanous fabrics, cashmere wools and silks.

Endive, Golden Glow, Living Coral, Lipstick Red, Chocolate Truffle, Lagoon, Woodbine and Lagoon appear more rich and muted. Fiery and intense these flavorsome earthy autumn shades are more ‘adventurous’ and work well together in a palette suiting perhaps textured, substantial and sumptuous fabrics. The Chocolate Truffle (yummy!) is an excellent wearable choice instead of black; it has the depth and gravitas but yet is warmer and more approachable. Piquant Lipstick Red and Golden Glow add spice and energy to the collection. Endive and Living Coral are both slightly ‘livelier’ colours adding a little sparkle to the group, whilst Lagoon adds a touch of calm to the collection.

I’m encouraged by the way the reports’ designers think about and view colour and as a colourist fully embrace the message of how colour can make you feel. I would be interested to hear your own views and comments too.

“My new fashion colours rule: Try it you might like it. In the last few years there’s been such an influx of colour in fashion, including the new neutrals which range from the iciest pinks to the lightest lavenders. Faced with all these choices, women may revert to black, but I urge them to give colour a try”.

Constance White – ebay Style Director

“It’s never been more important to show who you are and what you believe in and there’s not a more subtle way of doing that than with colour”

Collier Strong Celebrity Make-up Artist

“You’ll be amazed at what a splash of colour can do to both your’look’ and your ‘outlook’”

Cate Adair Costume Designer – Desperate Housewives

Personal colour psychology – find out for yourself how the colours that you wear have an effect on how you feel http://www.incolourconsultancy.com/personal_colour.htm

View the Pantone Fashion Colour Report here:
http://www.pantone.co.uk/downloads/articles/pdfs/PANTONE_Fashion_Color_Report_Fall_2010.pdf

I had a request from Nick to take a look at his website www.purepaint.co.uk as he feels the green page background is a bit ‘dull’ and taking a look around the site there is a bright, fresh feel about the other images. There’s still a good case for keeping the green as this colour accurately reflects the environment -friendly credentials of Nick’s business, the paints he uses are non toxic and natural. The Purepaint logo colours are from the autumnal palette which express the qualities of ‘integrity’ and ‘passion’ that Nick wishes to convey about Purepaint.

So – how to brighten it up? I’ve suggested that Nick look at some more yellow versions of green but of course keeping them within the same colour family, perhaps something like Pantone 367, 368, 376. There is a similar green in the Purepaint logo.

The addition of a yellow element adds some optimism and confidence to the green nicely reflecting Nick’s personality and values I think!

Have a look at our colour and communication design page to see how colour can affect the way you communicate.

Since its unveiling last month the Olympic logo has caused much comment from the design world and the public, so,  I thought I would chuck in my two penneth worth and add my comments to the fray.

Radical. Inelegant. Brave. Brash. Original. Outdated. Unreadable. These are some of the words that have been used to describe the design community’s reaction to the unveiling of the new 2012 Olympic brand logo.

Controversial it certainly is. The unexpected colours and design combine to make one react with shock. The logo is expected to ‘evolve’ the closer we come to the Olympics in versions of other colours – blue, green and orange. All use the colour yellow which reinforces a message of optimism and confidence and therefore is a good colour to use in this context. However, the first noticeable thing about the unveiled version is well, how very PINK it is.

The Olympic logo – girl power?!

Traditionally the ultimate ‘feminine power’ colour this particular strong magenta hue shrieks at us like the over competitive mum entering the parent’s race at school sports day elbowing her way to the front and claiming the prize – and indeed this colour might not look out of place championing a female only Olympics!

Psychologically we associate pink with the ‘female’ qualities of nurture and care, it is also a physically soothing colour. Some products that we associate with the colour pink might often be female orientated – even household, medical or skin related such as cleaning agents, plasters, face creams and stomach preparations etc.

For example, one such product – Vanish Oxi Action  has a very strong magenta pink container appealing to the female/powerful/cleaning mode of our psyche. This deeper hue of pink has undertones of red and blue that subconsciously underpins its qualities of strength and efficiency.

In another example of girl power, the company ‘Sheila’s Wheels’ aims its services at the ‘pink purse’ communicating its female only car insurance products through the use of a bright version of this colour. A division of the company Esure, the Sheila’s wheels product developed from research and strong opposition to the EU directive that would have seen women forced to subsidise men through their car insurance premiums. Women were found to claim less, are responsible for far fewer driving convictions and in short have an attitude towards their cars, driving and other road users that is often far more considered than those of their male counterparts – in short we care more.

But, apart from the mistaken use of the colour pink, where I think this logo misses the mark is in its use of colours from 3-4 different colour palettes thereby presenting mixed messages. The design style (text and shape etc.) belongs to a psychological ‘colour personality’ (winter) whose qualities are technical, efficient, forward thinking, powerful, and logical; not perhaps wholly representative of the qualities we might associate with the Olympics?

A group of colours that I think equate more with the values we associate with the Olympics would be from the springpalette. Psychologically these warm, light and clear colours far better convey the qualities of movement, high energy, speed, extroversion, optimism and excitement.

Tip: Colour is the first and most significant part of your message. Think about capturing the core value of your business and reflecting that in the colours that you use for your branding. Take a look at some of the meaning and effects of the different colours here.